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CBD Fourth National Report Malawi Fourth Country Report To the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Environmental Affairs Department Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Environment 6/30/2010 ii Executive summary Malawi is a land locked country in Southern Africa, located between Mozambique to the East and South, Tanzania to the North and Zambia to the West. The population is estimated to be 13 million people with a growth rate of 2.2%. About 85% of the population is rural and the rest is urban. Thus, making Malawi the least urbanised country in Africa. The temperature ranges from 12 to 32 oC but can be as high as 38 oC in the Rift Valley. Rainfall can be as high as 00 in high rainfall areas and as low as 00 in the lower shire. The topography ranges from near sea level to 3000 metres above sea level. The topographical various couples with varied temperature and rainfall has supported a wide range of soil, vegetation, plants and animals. (a) Overall status and trends in biodiversity, and major threats; Status and trends of terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity Malawi’s diverse temperature, rainfall, soils and topography support a wide range of organisms. Malawi occupies about 0.06% of the world land area and has the world’s eighth largest fresh water body (Lake Malawi). Despite the small area, Malawi is one of the countries with rich fish diversity. It contributes about 14% of world fresh water fish and about 4% of world fishes. About 95% of Lake Malawi fish species are endemic to Malawi. Ninety-five percent of these species are haplochromine cichlids, which are internationally recognized as an outstanding example of rapid speciation, with a potential to provide greater insights into the understanding of the evolutionary process. Because of their sedentary habits, most of the cichlids rarely migrate long distances from their locality. This has created species endemic not only to the lake but to certain restricted areas within the lake. This aspect has led to adaptive speciation, which is more diverse than the finches of the Galapagos Islands. Malawi has two biosphere reserves, Mulanje Mountain and Lake Chilwa Wetland. Lake Chilwa also happens to be a wetland of international importance being a Ramsar site. i) Terrestrial biodiversity Terrestrial biodiversity comprises terrestrial ecosystems, habitats and species within them. Terrestrial ecosystems are described based on major vegetation types. According to White’s classification, vegetation in Malawi may be perceived to comprise the following major vegetation types: i) Zambezian Woodland (Divided into miombo, mopane, and undifferentiated woodlands), ii) Transition woodland, iii) Deciduous forests and thickets, iv) Evergreen forest (subdivided into riparian, lowland, mid altitude and Afromontane rain forests), v) Undifferentiated Afromontane forests, such as Hagenia abyssinica forest, Juniperus procera forest, Widdringtonia whytei forest, vi) Afromontane Bamboo, vii) Afromontane evergreen bushland and thicket, viii) Afromontane shrubland. Most forests are found in National Parks and Wildlife Reserves, Forest Reserves, and protected hill slopes, and natural woodland on customary land. Forests in Malawi are under severe threat of depletion. The total cover is estimated to be declining at the rate of 1.0 to iii 2.8% annually due to deforestation for fuelwood, charcoal and settlements. For example, Forest Resource Mapping and Biomass Assessment of 1991 showed that in 1973, Brachystegia forests occupied 45% of total land area of Malawi (36.5% if Lake Malawi is included) while in 1990/91 land under forest cover was estimated to be 25.3 (20.5% if Lake Malawi is included). This indicates that land under Brachystegia forest reduced by 44% between 1972/73 and 1990/91 period. In 1998, Malawi had a total of 94 protected areas (comprising 85 Forest Reserves, 5 National Parks and four Wildife Reserves) and occupied a total of 1,869,974 Ha. Currently there are 88 forest reserves and together with national parks and wildlife reserves, they occupy about 2,018,198 Ha. This suggests that land under protected areas has increased by 148224 ha (8%). Currently about three forest reserves are proposed for protection and if approved by parliament this will bring the number of protected areas to about 100. Although there appear to be an increase in land under protected areas, there has been extensive encroachment into some forest reserves such as Thyolo, Ndilande, Kalwe, Zomba-Malosa. In addition the current list include some forest reserves that were degazetted. This means that the actual area under Protected Areas may be less than that reported in official documents. Terrestrial species such as plants, mammals, birds etc are also threatened by human activities. The most recent avian checklist gives 648 species comprising 456 residents, 94 intra-African migrants of regular occurrence, most of which probably breed in Malawi. A total of bird 9 species are listed in IUCN Red Data. Many of the biome-restricted species found in Malawi may be considered to be under conservation threat since their distribution in now restricted to a small number of sites. Approximately 6000 plant species have been recorded in Malawi. Of these only eleven have legal protection but this excludes the endangered Wildringtonia whytei, aloes and orchids. The National Red Data List identified 248 species of which 128 species are regarded as threatened. In addition, the Millennium Seed Bank Project undertook full conservation assessment of 63 species determined as having either the highest extinction threat, or as being data deficient. It was found out that 23 species can be classified as threatened based on IUCN Red List categories and criteria. Malawi has about 192 recorded mammal species of which the Black Rhinoceros is critically endangered. Two mammals (African Wild dogs and Ozungwe vlei rat) are classified as endangered whilst elephants, cheetah, lions and hippopotamus are classified as vulnerable. Eleven mammal species are near threatened. Black rhinos were locally extinct but these were reintroduced in Liwonde and Majete national Parks and its population is now estimated to be 15 (7 in Majete and 8 in Liwonde National Park). Conservation status of invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians is not well known. In general however, invertebrates are poorly studied and it is not surprising that despite the high number of insect species only one species is classified as critically endangered. ii) Aquatic biodiversity Aquatic ecosystems constitute about 22% of the total surface area of Malawi and most of these comprise the areas occupied by the four major lakes (Lakes Malawi, Malombe and Chilwa). There are four major types of aquatic ecosystems in Malawi: lakes, rivers, small water iv bodies (e.g. lagoons) and other wetlands e.g. marshes and swamps. The 1998 (as part of the NBSAP process) ecosystems assessment observed significant human activity in wetlands leading to significant ecological transformation. There is significant degradation in the lakes Malawi, Malombe and Chilwa mainly due to sediment load, nutrient input, pollutants and contaminants. Malawi’s aquatic biodiversity is rich but most aquatic biodiversity groups with the exception of fish are poorly known. Fish is economically important to Malawi and also happens to be the most studied group. There are over 1000 species of fish in Malawi of which 800 are in Lake Malawi alone and contribute to about 14% of world fresh water fish. About 95% of Lake Malawi fish are endemic. Despite the high endemism no fish has been recorded to have gone extinct in Malawi although there have been records of some fish species being locally displaced from their original habitats. For example, Labeo mesops (ntchila) and Opsaridium microlepis (mpasa) are more abundant on Tanzanian and Mozambique side of Lake Malawi because of pristine environments and very little overfishing. Fish production declined from an estimated 70,000 metric tonnes to 50,000 metric tonnes between 1980 and 2000. Chambo alone declined to about 9,000 metric tonnes per year. This decline was due to overfishing, use of inappropriate fishing gear and pollution. Currently about 102 fish species are listed on IUCN Red Data List as endangered. The conservation status of the recorded 164 amphibian species cannot be determined with certainty. Despite this the IUCN Global Amphibians Assessment for Africa of 2002 recorded 37 threatened amphibian species from central and southern African. Of these 12 amphibians species are reported in Malawi. There are about 139 reptile species (crocodile, monitor lizard, terrapin and turtles) that are most closely associated with freshwater habitats in Malawi. The conservation status of reptiles is not known but it has been observed that crocodile populations are in the decline, mainly due to habitat competition with people. Hippopotamus and Otters are probably the only mammals that have a true affinity for aquatic habitats. Two species of otters are recorded in Malawi, the Cape Clawless ( Aonyx capensis ) and the spotted Necked ( Lutra maculocollis ). Both species are rare and are now listed in IUCN Red Data list as threatened. Agricultural biodiversity (the variability among animals, plants and microorganisms that are used or indirectly used for food and agriculture) are the main driving force of the agricultural sector and Malawi’s economy. It comprises the diversity of varieties and breeds used for food, fodder, fuel and pharmaceuticals and species that support production such as soil microorganisms and pollinators. In Malawi agrobiodiversity is viewed in terms of domesticated plants and animals. The agrobiodiversity is threatened by preference to high yielding exotic species, indiscriminate crossbreeding programmes, stock thefts and diseases. iii) Threats to biodiversity v In general terms major threats affecting Malawi’s biodiversity may be placed into five groups; loss and fragmentation of natural habitats, over harvesting or over exploitation of natural resources, invasive species, pollution and climate change. Alternative land uses for urban development, agricultural expansion, infrastructure development and mining have contributed to reduction or degradation of important habitats and ecosystems.
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